Two Trails Show, Part II

Can you believe it? Some folks don't read Hotkarz. And two of them were seen sitting in an empty parking lot in Limington this morning, waiting for the show to start :o)

I have been waiting for the TT show for quite some time, primarily because a) it was a rebuilding of another show, and b) HotKarz was "tapped" for suggestions, and I was anxious to see the result.

I gotta say, I was pleased with this show. Very pleased. Was it perfect? Hell, no. But it came about as close as I've seen.

I will run through the problems that I noted, or those that were brought to my attention. Relax, TT - they are all pretty minor.

The day began waiting in line out in the street - but not for very long. The gate opened on time - we were early. But I hate waiting! I am about as impatient as a living person can be. But that is just me.

Some folks mentioned that they felt a bit cramped - vehicles parked a bit too close for their comfort. A lot of owners like to have doors open, so folks can look in, like what they see, and vote for them. But if two vehicles side-by-side opened their doors, there was no room for spectators to squeeze in. A valid complaint, I suppose, but considering the turnout, it was probably the best they could do, not knowing just how big a class would get.

Of course, I had to check on my pet peeve - Special Interest. Of all the entrants (about 10), only half should have been in that class. The other half simply were not Special Interest - at least, not to the general audience, which is the key.

And that's about it for notable problems.

Now for the good stuff. Two Trails Cruisers did a pretty darn good job of enforcing the classes (except for SI). In some cases, they even asked folks to move into a more appropriate class. And that is key - all vehicles should be in the most appropriate class, and not just any class it might technically fit into. This is for the sake of fairness and respect to other entrants, and helps keep a level playing field.

Two Trails Cruisers did an exceptional job of organizing this show, and insuring orderliness. Everything was well laid out, and posted. This helped things go smoothly.

Even the awards ceremony was organized well, allowing for all winners to get photographed, which I thought was great! I do not normally have the opportunity to get all the winners, due to limited web space. Two Trails found a solution to that, for which many are grateful.

There is one more thing, but before I get to it, I would like to share a comment I heard from a "regular" show goer, which was restated in other ways by a couple of other folks. They mentioned there were some "upsets" today. Some folks who normally placed did not find themselves in the winner's circle, while others who rarely win were surprised to find themselves with award in hand. And most of those folks attributed this to one simple thing - the ballots were split, which is an idea I have been advocating for some time. The split ballot tends to prevent "bloc" voting, and the "buddy system" which has ruled car shows for nearly 20 years. By breaking up these "buddy" systems, the cream tends to rise to the top. Now, I know some folks won't like that - but they are the ones who have been the beneficiaries of the buddy system style of voting. Most of us, however, can appreciate the value of giving everyone a fair chance to win in an honest competition. And, for the most part, that is what we saw today.

My wife did notice that there is a distinct "problem" with being recognized as the "HotKarz" guy. It took us about an hour to get across the lot to go to McD's for breakfast. It seems I got stopped every couple of feet by folks who wanted to talk about HotKarz. And I liked that! But a person could starve to death trying to get to the trough...

To all the great folks who organized and ran this show, and all the wonderful volunteers and staff, I say "Kudos to you!" A job very well done. And a special thanks to Mr. Ken Matthews, whose tireless efforts guaranteed the results we saw today.

And a special thanks to WalMart - their generosity was an integral part of this show's success. Next time you see Tina (the WalMart manager), don't forget to say "Thank You".

I wonder if those two guys are still sittin' in that Limington parking lot....